Private higher education promoters push for greater autonomy

The Inspector General of Academics in the Ministry of Higher Education (MINESUP), Professor Marcel Fouda Ndjodo, has underscored the sovereign character of education and certification in Cameroon as the preserve and prerogative of the State.

In this wise, he explained that all actors running institutions of education are only enjoying the delegation of the State’s power to facilitate the education of a greater majority of citizens. He said that was why the Ministry preferred the term ‘promoters’ and not owners of learning institutions because offering education should not be a commercial activity.

The expert was speaking on behalf of his Minister in Buea, recently as he concluded a two-day conference that brought side by side the promoters of Higher Education Institutions (PHEI) of the North West and South West Regions and experts of the oversight Ministry of Higher Education.

He led an eight-man strong team of experts from MINESUP, including four Inspectors of Academics and three Directors.

They made a distinction between Diplomas and associate Degrees issued by MINESUP and Bachelors, Master’s and Doctorate offered by State Universities and the only two homologated private Universities in Cameroon – notably the Catholic University of Central Africa (Yaounde) and “Université Adventiste” of Nanga Eboko.

The Buea confab, coordinated by Reverend Father George Nkeze Jingwa, President of the Catholic University Institute of Buea, was attended by 19 of the 31 existing private University Colleges in Anglophone Cameroon.

Among their recommendations addressed to MINESUP, the PHEIs requested for greater autonomy of private Universities especially as they offer mostly courses that the State-mentor Universities do not master.

The promoters rejoiced that the experts from the Ministry explained the several texts governing Higher Education in Cameroon and which texts had remained unknown to most promoters.

While calling for higher education curriculum review, Dr. Engineer Arrey Paul Abunaw of UCT-HIT argued for promoters that the educational system must be structured to satisfy industrial needs of the generation, consider the valuable inputs of foreign mentoring Universities, and be tailored to meet Cameroon’s vision 2035. “We cannot continue producing graduates without jobs,” Reverend Jingwa stressed.